Looking At The World Through The Cross
"May I never boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:14).
Jesus could accomplish man's redemption in no other way than by crucifixion. He must die - and die the death of the Cross. What light and glory beam around the Cross! Of what prodigies of grace is it the instrument, of what glorious truths is it the symbol, of what mighty, magic power is it the source!
Around it, gathers all the light of the Old Testament economy. It explains every symbol, it substantiates every shadow, it solves every mystery, it fulfills every type, it confirms every prophecy - of that dispensation which had eternally remained unmeaning and inexplicable - except for the death of the Son of God upon the Cross!
Not the past only, but all future splendor gathers around the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. It assures us of the ultimate reign of the Saviour, and tells of the reward which shall spring from His sufferings! And while its one arm points to the divine counsels of eternity past - with the other it points to the future triumph and glory of Christ's kingdom in the eternity to come. Such is the lowly, yet sublime; the weak, yet mighty instrument - by which the sinner is saved, and God eternally glorified!
The Cross of Christ is the grand consummation of all preceding dispensations of God to men. The Cross of Christ is the meritorious procuring cause of all spiritual blessings to our fallen race.
The Cross of Christ is the scene of Christ's splendid victories over all His enemies and ours.
The Cross of Christ is the most powerful incentive to all evangelical holiness.
The Cross of Christ is the instrument which is to subjugate the world to the supremacy of Jesus.
The Cross of Christ is the source of all true peace, joy, and hope.
The Cross of Christ is the tree beneath whose shadow, sin expires and grace lives!
The Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ! What a holy thrill these words produce in the heart of those who love the Saviour! How significant their meaning - how precious their influence! Marvelous and irresistible, is the power of the Cross!
The Cross of Christ has subdued many a rebellious will. The Cross of Christ has broken many a marble heart. The Cross of Christ has laid low many a vaunting foe. The Cross of Christ has overcome and triumphed - when all other instruments have failed. The Cross of Christ has transformed the lion-like heart of man - into the lamb-like heart of Christ. And when lifted up in its own naked simplicity and inimitable grandeur - the Cross of Christ has won and attracted millions to its faith, admiration, and love!
What a marvelous power does this Cross of Jesus possess! It changes the Christian's entire judgment of the world. Looking at the world through the Cross - his opinion is totally revolutionized. He sees it as it really is - a sinful, empty, vain thing! He learns its iniquity - in that it crucified the Lord of life and glory. His expectations from the world, his love to the world - are changed. He has found another object of love - the Saviour whom the world cast out and slew! His love to the world is destroyed by that power which alone could destroy it - the crucifying power of the Cross!
It is the Cross which eclipses, in the view of the true believer - the glory and attraction of every other object!
What is the weapon by which faith combats with, and overcomes the world? What but the Cross of Jesus! Just as the natural eye, gazing for a while upon the sun, is blinded for the moment, by its overpowering effulgence to all other objects - so to the believer, concentrating his mind upon the glory of the crucified Saviour, studying closely the wonders of grace and love and truth meeting in the Cross - the world with all its attractions fades into the full darkness of an eclipse! Christ and His Cross are infinitely better than the world and its vanities!
~Octavius Winslow~
A Proliferation of Christian Devotionals and Sermons
Saturday, October 27, 2018
Saturday, October 20, 2018
In Thy Storehouse (and others)
In Thy Storehouse (and others)
There are riches in Thy storehouse,
But, my Lord, we are so poor.
There is power in Thy storehouse,
But the cripple clothes our door.
There is wisdom in Thy storehouse,
But in ignorance we grope.
There's revival in Thy storehouse,
But we've millions without hope.
There is freedom in Thy storehouse,
But Thy people are so bound.
There is glory in Thy storehouse,
But it does not shine around.
There is love within Thy storehouse,
But Thy people are so dry.
There's compassion in Thy storehouse -
Then my Saviour, why, of why
Are Thy people stony-hearted
And our eyes so desert dry?
_Leonard Ravenhill~
______________________________
The Heathen
I'm gazing now in the jungle green
With a people whose bodies, not fit to be seen,
Are crusted with dirt and distorted in belly,
With louse-packed hair and revoltingly smelly,
A woman now swings her naked breast
To the mouth of a babe who was never dressed.
She sits in a house with mangy dogs
(The best of the room is reserved for hogs).
The husband knows nothing of horses or cows,
But boasts his wealth by his fertile sows.
The place is fit only for hogs and dogs
That snooze by the fire of smoldering logs.
I have seen them crouched in the desert heat,
I have heard the thud of their unshod feet,
I have seen them shake an unwashed head
As they cringed at the feet of their unsaved dead.
O God, it seems to be madly absurd
That they knew not Christ or Thy holy Word.
They have gone to hell while we slept in our pews;
While we argued doctrine, we denied them news.
We've reclined in plush and saved our knees,
We have had it lush and forgotten these
Who grope in fear in the heathen night.
Had we loved them once, we'd have sent them light.
O Christ, by the power of Thy holy Name,
Give Thy flabby Church a heart of shame.
Smite her cold conscience, buckle her knees,
That she has lacked concern for these
Who have, generation by generation,
Been lost to Thine own "so great a salvation."
Oh God, on that day, that Judgment Day,
When homes and banks have been swept away,
And there is no place of habitation
For any man in any nation,
Then every man must stand alone
Before the King on His judgment throne.
What shall I do when the heathen stand
and accuse that I seldom lent a hand
To save them from pain and eternal woe,
And stayed in my ease but made others go
With a message I knew, I knew full well
Could save them from sin and fear and hell?
O God, my God, in that dreadful day
When all excuses are tossed away
And there's no time left to repent or cry
As earthly treasures in ashes lie,
Then Lord, oh, Lord, what shall I say
For the money and time I have frettered away?
~Leonard Ravenhill~
____________________________
Calvary's Tree
I know that I shall never see
A tree like that on Calvary,
A tree on which men, poor and blind,
Defiled the Saviour of mankind.
That sin was done by fools like me,
But God Himself was on that tree!
I love to think, as He hung there -
No eye to pity, none to care,
Victim of hate, betrayed and cursed,
Cut off from God, dying in thirst -
I love to think He thought of me
When hanging there upon the tree.
I joy to know He'll come again,
Who on a tree by man was slain,
I'll count myself among the wise
Who wait His coming from the skies;
Not from a tree, but from a throne
He soon shall rule this world alone.
(Dedicated to Gary Johnson)
~Leonard Ravenhill~
There are riches in Thy storehouse,
But, my Lord, we are so poor.
There is power in Thy storehouse,
But the cripple clothes our door.
There is wisdom in Thy storehouse,
But in ignorance we grope.
There's revival in Thy storehouse,
But we've millions without hope.
There is freedom in Thy storehouse,
But Thy people are so bound.
There is glory in Thy storehouse,
But it does not shine around.
There is love within Thy storehouse,
But Thy people are so dry.
There's compassion in Thy storehouse -
Then my Saviour, why, of why
Are Thy people stony-hearted
And our eyes so desert dry?
_Leonard Ravenhill~
______________________________
The Heathen
I'm gazing now in the jungle green
With a people whose bodies, not fit to be seen,
Are crusted with dirt and distorted in belly,
With louse-packed hair and revoltingly smelly,
A woman now swings her naked breast
To the mouth of a babe who was never dressed.
She sits in a house with mangy dogs
(The best of the room is reserved for hogs).
The husband knows nothing of horses or cows,
But boasts his wealth by his fertile sows.
The place is fit only for hogs and dogs
That snooze by the fire of smoldering logs.
I have seen them crouched in the desert heat,
I have heard the thud of their unshod feet,
I have seen them shake an unwashed head
As they cringed at the feet of their unsaved dead.
O God, it seems to be madly absurd
That they knew not Christ or Thy holy Word.
They have gone to hell while we slept in our pews;
While we argued doctrine, we denied them news.
We've reclined in plush and saved our knees,
We have had it lush and forgotten these
Who grope in fear in the heathen night.
Had we loved them once, we'd have sent them light.
O Christ, by the power of Thy holy Name,
Give Thy flabby Church a heart of shame.
Smite her cold conscience, buckle her knees,
That she has lacked concern for these
Who have, generation by generation,
Been lost to Thine own "so great a salvation."
Oh God, on that day, that Judgment Day,
When homes and banks have been swept away,
And there is no place of habitation
For any man in any nation,
Then every man must stand alone
Before the King on His judgment throne.
What shall I do when the heathen stand
and accuse that I seldom lent a hand
To save them from pain and eternal woe,
And stayed in my ease but made others go
With a message I knew, I knew full well
Could save them from sin and fear and hell?
O God, my God, in that dreadful day
When all excuses are tossed away
And there's no time left to repent or cry
As earthly treasures in ashes lie,
Then Lord, oh, Lord, what shall I say
For the money and time I have frettered away?
~Leonard Ravenhill~
____________________________
Calvary's Tree
I know that I shall never see
A tree like that on Calvary,
A tree on which men, poor and blind,
Defiled the Saviour of mankind.
That sin was done by fools like me,
But God Himself was on that tree!
I love to think, as He hung there -
No eye to pity, none to care,
Victim of hate, betrayed and cursed,
Cut off from God, dying in thirst -
I love to think He thought of me
When hanging there upon the tree.
I joy to know He'll come again,
Who on a tree by man was slain,
I'll count myself among the wise
Who wait His coming from the skies;
Not from a tree, but from a throne
He soon shall rule this world alone.
(Dedicated to Gary Johnson)
~Leonard Ravenhill~
Saturday, October 13, 2018
The Happiness of Being With Christ, Preferable to Continuance on Earth # 2 (and others)
The Happiness of Being With Christ, Preferable to Continuance on Earth # 2 (and others)
2. Christians Are Present with the Lord Immediately After Death. The very language of the text is conclusive on this. "Absent from the body - present with the Lord." "I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far!" (Philippians 1:23). The answer which Christ gave to the dying malefactor, "Today shall you be with me in Paradise." Solemn thought! To be present with the Lord implies:
a. That we must leave this vain world with all its engagements and connections.
b. We must die. The tabernacle must be dissolved. Could we but make our exit like Enoch and Elijah, and carry these bodies with us, to be changed into spiritual bodies in the transit - we would be content to go. But we must go the way of the flesh. Yet, joyful thought,
c. When death has made the separation - as soon as the spirit if free, it shall be present with the Lord. Angels shall take it in charge, and conduct it to Him who ransomed it by His precious blood and the body shall be raised and refined and reunited with the soul in God's own time.
3. To Be Present With Christ, Is Preferable To Continuance in Life. The Apostle expresses a desire "to be absent from the body - and to be present with the Lord." The words import a preference. "We are confident," We are bold, courageous, inspirited to a willingness, "to be absent from the body" - and to be present with the Lord."
a. On account of the deficiency of human life. Nothing here can satisfy the boundless desires of the soul. "The fashion of this world is passing away." "You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand!" (Psalm 16:11).
b. On account of persecution. In Heaven all will be love, and peace, and joy. "The wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest."
c. The enjoyment of Christ's presence in Heaven will be uninterrupted - no satan to harass us, no sin to tempt us, no evil heart of unbelief to cast us down, no bodily affliction to sorrow us.
d. The enjoyment of His presence will be eternal.
APPLICATION
1. This preference arises from that confident assurance which saints have of a better state, "to be absent from the body - and to be present with the Lord!"
2. The subject affords great comfort under the loss of pious relatives and friends. They are present with the Lord. They are not lost, but only gone before us.
3. Is our piety anything like that of the apostles? Are we so weaned from the world as to be willing to be absent from the body - and to be present with the Lord?
~William Nicholson~
(The End)
____________________________
I Did The Will of God
I fled Him when His grace pursued,
I did despite unto His name,
And delved me into sin so rude
That there my soul enforged a chain.
When captive to my own desire,
When blue with guilt and unnamed shame,
Hos long arm reached into the mire
And plucked me out - bless be His name!
Shall I leave others in their woe?
Shall I ignore their cries who sink?
Forbid it, Lord; I'll rise and go
'Twixt Thee and them to be a link.
Unwearied may I lift the load
Of those who stagger 'neath sin's spell;
Stab my poor heart with love's strong goad
To battle powers of earth and hell.
Earth's little strand is far too small
To barter for the judgment day,
When powers and thrones and wealth and all
Forever shall have passed away.
Oh, day of days, when I shall be
The cynosure of ten million eyes,
Oh, may my Saviour say to me,
"Well done," as my eternal prize.
When unsupported I shall stand
Before Thy blazing bema seat,
Give me, my Lord, to understand
Thy greatness and Thy love for me!
~Leonard Ravenhill~
2. Christians Are Present with the Lord Immediately After Death. The very language of the text is conclusive on this. "Absent from the body - present with the Lord." "I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far!" (Philippians 1:23). The answer which Christ gave to the dying malefactor, "Today shall you be with me in Paradise." Solemn thought! To be present with the Lord implies:
a. That we must leave this vain world with all its engagements and connections.
b. We must die. The tabernacle must be dissolved. Could we but make our exit like Enoch and Elijah, and carry these bodies with us, to be changed into spiritual bodies in the transit - we would be content to go. But we must go the way of the flesh. Yet, joyful thought,
c. When death has made the separation - as soon as the spirit if free, it shall be present with the Lord. Angels shall take it in charge, and conduct it to Him who ransomed it by His precious blood and the body shall be raised and refined and reunited with the soul in God's own time.
3. To Be Present With Christ, Is Preferable To Continuance in Life. The Apostle expresses a desire "to be absent from the body - and to be present with the Lord." The words import a preference. "We are confident," We are bold, courageous, inspirited to a willingness, "to be absent from the body" - and to be present with the Lord."
a. On account of the deficiency of human life. Nothing here can satisfy the boundless desires of the soul. "The fashion of this world is passing away." "You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand!" (Psalm 16:11).
b. On account of persecution. In Heaven all will be love, and peace, and joy. "The wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest."
c. The enjoyment of Christ's presence in Heaven will be uninterrupted - no satan to harass us, no sin to tempt us, no evil heart of unbelief to cast us down, no bodily affliction to sorrow us.
d. The enjoyment of His presence will be eternal.
APPLICATION
1. This preference arises from that confident assurance which saints have of a better state, "to be absent from the body - and to be present with the Lord!"
2. The subject affords great comfort under the loss of pious relatives and friends. They are present with the Lord. They are not lost, but only gone before us.
3. Is our piety anything like that of the apostles? Are we so weaned from the world as to be willing to be absent from the body - and to be present with the Lord?
~William Nicholson~
(The End)
____________________________
I Did The Will of God
I fled Him when His grace pursued,
I did despite unto His name,
And delved me into sin so rude
That there my soul enforged a chain.
When captive to my own desire,
When blue with guilt and unnamed shame,
Hos long arm reached into the mire
And plucked me out - bless be His name!
Shall I leave others in their woe?
Shall I ignore their cries who sink?
Forbid it, Lord; I'll rise and go
'Twixt Thee and them to be a link.
Unwearied may I lift the load
Of those who stagger 'neath sin's spell;
Stab my poor heart with love's strong goad
To battle powers of earth and hell.
Earth's little strand is far too small
To barter for the judgment day,
When powers and thrones and wealth and all
Forever shall have passed away.
Oh, day of days, when I shall be
The cynosure of ten million eyes,
Oh, may my Saviour say to me,
"Well done," as my eternal prize.
When unsupported I shall stand
Before Thy blazing bema seat,
Give me, my Lord, to understand
Thy greatness and Thy love for me!
~Leonard Ravenhill~
The Happiness of Being With Christ, Preferable to Continuance on Earth # 1
The Happiness of Being With Christ, Preferable to Continuance on Earth # 1
"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body - and to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:8).
When the path of the traveler is very rough and dreary, it is natural that he should ardently long for home. So it is sometimes with the Christian pilgrim on earth. When trials abound, and sorrows press him down - he longs to reach his Father's house above. "Where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest!" This was the case with the Apostle Paul, whose afflictions, trials, and duties were very heavy. See preceding verses, and 2 Corinthians 4:8-11; 11:23.
Sometimes too, faith and hope are in lively exercise; the Christian like Moses, from the top of Mount Pisgah, beholds the promised land after off, and then he ardently longs to enter the purchased inheritance.
But the Apostle was governed by the will of his Saviour, "We we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it" (2 Corinthians 5:9).
1. The Believer's Happiness in Heaven Consists in Being Present with the Lord.
Christ now dwells in Heaven. After His resurrection, He ascended to that magnificent abode. "I ascend to my Father, and your Father" etc. (John 20:17; Acts 1:11; Ephesians 4:8, 9)
There He sits at the right hand of God in a state of glorious exaltation (Acts 2:33; 5:31; Philippians 2:9).
a. To be present with the Lord, implies fitness of association. And what fitness is required? Holiness, purity, similarity of spirit, spiritual relish and desires for holy and heavenly exercises. (Rev. 17:14-17. Christ effects this by regeneration; and the good work He has begun - He will perform and finish. (1 John 3:1-3; Ephesians 5:25-27).
b. To be with the Lord, implies a consciousness of His presence; "present with the Lord." We shall be with Him in Heaven - our eyes will behold Him there.
Job dwelt upon this truth with pleasure, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. So did David, "And I - in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness!" (Psalm 17:15). They will ever see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads" (Rev. 22:4).
In this world, His presence is spiritual; we walk by faith, and not by sight. How different it will be to see Him as He is, and behold Him face to face!
c. To be with the Lord implies an immediate perception of His glory. "Father, I want those You have given me to be with me where I am, and to see My glory, the glory you have given me because You loved me before the creation of the world" (John 17:24). How wonderful, how efficacious, how rich, will His love then appear! His glory will be seen in the magnificence and immortality of His dwelling place; beauty and glory of angelic attendants; salvation of His people, so rich, so complete and eternal; provision He has made for their enjoyment through the countless ages of eternity!
d. To be with the Lord is to praise Him. "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!" (Rev. 19:1).
e. To be present with the Lord, is to dwell with Him forever. "They shall reign forever and ever!" (Rev. 22:5).
~William Nicholson~
(continued with # 2)
"We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body - and to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:8).
When the path of the traveler is very rough and dreary, it is natural that he should ardently long for home. So it is sometimes with the Christian pilgrim on earth. When trials abound, and sorrows press him down - he longs to reach his Father's house above. "Where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest!" This was the case with the Apostle Paul, whose afflictions, trials, and duties were very heavy. See preceding verses, and 2 Corinthians 4:8-11; 11:23.
Sometimes too, faith and hope are in lively exercise; the Christian like Moses, from the top of Mount Pisgah, beholds the promised land after off, and then he ardently longs to enter the purchased inheritance.
But the Apostle was governed by the will of his Saviour, "We we make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it" (2 Corinthians 5:9).
1. The Believer's Happiness in Heaven Consists in Being Present with the Lord.
Christ now dwells in Heaven. After His resurrection, He ascended to that magnificent abode. "I ascend to my Father, and your Father" etc. (John 20:17; Acts 1:11; Ephesians 4:8, 9)
There He sits at the right hand of God in a state of glorious exaltation (Acts 2:33; 5:31; Philippians 2:9).
a. To be present with the Lord, implies fitness of association. And what fitness is required? Holiness, purity, similarity of spirit, spiritual relish and desires for holy and heavenly exercises. (Rev. 17:14-17. Christ effects this by regeneration; and the good work He has begun - He will perform and finish. (1 John 3:1-3; Ephesians 5:25-27).
b. To be with the Lord, implies a consciousness of His presence; "present with the Lord." We shall be with Him in Heaven - our eyes will behold Him there.
Job dwelt upon this truth with pleasure, "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. So did David, "And I - in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness!" (Psalm 17:15). They will ever see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads" (Rev. 22:4).
In this world, His presence is spiritual; we walk by faith, and not by sight. How different it will be to see Him as He is, and behold Him face to face!
c. To be with the Lord implies an immediate perception of His glory. "Father, I want those You have given me to be with me where I am, and to see My glory, the glory you have given me because You loved me before the creation of the world" (John 17:24). How wonderful, how efficacious, how rich, will His love then appear! His glory will be seen in the magnificence and immortality of His dwelling place; beauty and glory of angelic attendants; salvation of His people, so rich, so complete and eternal; provision He has made for their enjoyment through the countless ages of eternity!
d. To be with the Lord is to praise Him. "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!" (Rev. 19:1).
e. To be present with the Lord, is to dwell with Him forever. "They shall reign forever and ever!" (Rev. 22:5).
~William Nicholson~
(continued with # 2)
Saturday, October 6, 2018
Faith Laughs At Impossibilities
Faith Laughs At Impossibilities
Peter in prison! What a jolt!
We are too far removed from the actual scene to catch the atmosphere of dismay the Christians of that day felt.
Peter had moved from Pentecost to prison, from jeers to spears. He was guarded by sixteen soldiers. One wonders why such a defenseless man needed such a group to watch him. Could it be that Herod feared the supernatural, seeing he knew that Jesus escaped such a group that guarded Him?
Had Peter been hedged in by sixteen hundred soldiers, the problem would not have been increased nor the escape less sure. Peter was bound not only by two chairs, but also by the thick walls of the prison, by the three wards of the prison, and finally by an iron gate.
When Peter is in prison, does the church organize a plan to get him released? No. When Peter is jailed, do the believers offer a plea to Herod or suggest a price to offer the lawmakers for his freedom? No. Peter had released others at the hour of prayer; now others must believe for his release.
Right through the Book of Acts, which might be called the Acts of Prayer, we find prayer and more prayer. Dig into the book and discover this power that motivated the early church. In the twelfth chapter of Acts we find a group that prayed. Though a host encamped against Peter, in this were the believers confident: there was a God who could and would deliver. The one never-failing rescue operation was prayer. There was no hedging about in the prayers of those who made intercession for Peter. Prayer was made without ceasing by the church unto God for him. They did not seem to be concerned whether Herod should die or not. They did not pray that they might escape Peter's fate. They were not asking that they have another exodus to a more hospitable country. They prayed for one person: Peter. They prayed for one thing; his release. The answer proves the point: "Whatsoever ye shall ask...that will I do."
Some shabby interpreters of this story have said that when the prayers heard that Peter was at the door, they were unbelieving. I cannot accept this assumption. I am sure that they prayed with expectation. I like to think that they were for the moment staggered by the immediacy of the answer. They could be excused if they raised their eyebrows when Peter said, "I got out quite easily with an angel escort." (Next time you pass through the magic self-opening door at your supermarket, remember that the first door to open of its own accord was operated from above!)
Angel deliverances seem to find no place in our modern theology. Perhaps we would like the Lord to answer our prayers with the least embarrassment to us. After all, who expects that the angelic ranks should be disturbed just to bring deliverance to a praying soul? But supernatural results came for many of the praying saints of apostolic days. The Lord geared a property-damaging earthquake to get deliverance for an apostle. Prayer is dynamite.
There is no weapon formed against prayer that can neutralize it. Some things can delay answers to prayer, but nothing can stop the full purpose of God. "Though it tarry, wait for it."
The first requirement in prayer is to believe. Believe that God is and that "he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Believe that God is alive and therefore has power not only for Peter's deliverance, but for ours. Believe that God is love and that He cares for His own. Believe that God is power and therefore no power can stand against Him. Believe that God is truth and therefore cannot lie. Believe that God is kind and that He will never abdicate His throne or fail in His promise.
Reflecting on the story of Peter, I am rebuked, humiliated, chagrined, stung. Why? Because there was some great modern saints, Watchman Nee for one, who for years have suffered and been held captive by communists and others. Many of the saints today are shut up in prison. The same fate has befallen some of God's choice witnesses in Vietnam and in the Congo.
Such perils to other members of the Body demand concern, concentration, and consecration to a committed plan of prayer on their behalf. I fear that prayer has not been made to God without ceasing for these suffering kinsmen.
Mr. Bunyan shows us his Christian held captive by the Giant Despair in Doubting Castle. The key to deliverance was Promise. We Christians are in captivity on many levels today personal, domestic, church, and missionary enterprise. But fetters break and dungeons fall when prayer is made by the church unto God - Prayer without ceasing; prayer that might shatter our status quo; prayer that drains us of every other interest; prayer that excites us by its immense possibilities; prayer that sees God as the One that rules on high, almighty to save; prayer that laughs at impossibilities and cries, "It shall be done"; prayer that sees all things beneath His feet; prayer that is motivated with desire for God's glory.
The praying of the believer can become a ritual. The place of prayer is more than a dumping ground for all our anxieties, frets, and fears. The place of prayer is not a place to drop a shopping list before the throne of a God with endless supplies and limitless power.
I believe the place of prayer is not only a place where I lose my burdens, but also a place where I get a burden. He shares my burden and I share His burden. "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." To know that burden, we must hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. To hear that voice, we must be still and know that He is God.
This calamitous hour in the affairs of men demands a church healthier than the one we have. This blatant manifestation of evil in the youth and in the violation of God's commandments throughout the world calls for a faith that will not shirk.
Can we let our prayer swords rust in the scabbards of doubt? Shall our prayer harps hang tuneless on the willows of unbelief? If God is a god of matchless power and incredible might, if the Bible is the unchangeable Word of the living God, if the virtue of Christ is as fresh today as when He first made the offering of Himself to God after His resurrection, if He is the one and only mediator today, If the Holy Spirit can quicken us as He did our spiritual fathers, Then all things are possible today.
The seas were boiling, the winds were howling, the sails were tearing, the spars were flying, the stars were hiding. The people were crying and crying, sobbing and sighing. One man alone was praising. All were expecting death save Paul. Amidst a scene of hopelessness, if ever thee was one, Paul cries, "Sirs, I believe God" (Acts 27).
As things seem to fall apart these days, I am going to join Paul. I am going to say in faith, "Sirs, I believe God." Will you join me?
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(The End)
Peter in prison! What a jolt!
We are too far removed from the actual scene to catch the atmosphere of dismay the Christians of that day felt.
Peter had moved from Pentecost to prison, from jeers to spears. He was guarded by sixteen soldiers. One wonders why such a defenseless man needed such a group to watch him. Could it be that Herod feared the supernatural, seeing he knew that Jesus escaped such a group that guarded Him?
Had Peter been hedged in by sixteen hundred soldiers, the problem would not have been increased nor the escape less sure. Peter was bound not only by two chairs, but also by the thick walls of the prison, by the three wards of the prison, and finally by an iron gate.
When Peter is in prison, does the church organize a plan to get him released? No. When Peter is jailed, do the believers offer a plea to Herod or suggest a price to offer the lawmakers for his freedom? No. Peter had released others at the hour of prayer; now others must believe for his release.
Right through the Book of Acts, which might be called the Acts of Prayer, we find prayer and more prayer. Dig into the book and discover this power that motivated the early church. In the twelfth chapter of Acts we find a group that prayed. Though a host encamped against Peter, in this were the believers confident: there was a God who could and would deliver. The one never-failing rescue operation was prayer. There was no hedging about in the prayers of those who made intercession for Peter. Prayer was made without ceasing by the church unto God for him. They did not seem to be concerned whether Herod should die or not. They did not pray that they might escape Peter's fate. They were not asking that they have another exodus to a more hospitable country. They prayed for one person: Peter. They prayed for one thing; his release. The answer proves the point: "Whatsoever ye shall ask...that will I do."
Some shabby interpreters of this story have said that when the prayers heard that Peter was at the door, they were unbelieving. I cannot accept this assumption. I am sure that they prayed with expectation. I like to think that they were for the moment staggered by the immediacy of the answer. They could be excused if they raised their eyebrows when Peter said, "I got out quite easily with an angel escort." (Next time you pass through the magic self-opening door at your supermarket, remember that the first door to open of its own accord was operated from above!)
Angel deliverances seem to find no place in our modern theology. Perhaps we would like the Lord to answer our prayers with the least embarrassment to us. After all, who expects that the angelic ranks should be disturbed just to bring deliverance to a praying soul? But supernatural results came for many of the praying saints of apostolic days. The Lord geared a property-damaging earthquake to get deliverance for an apostle. Prayer is dynamite.
There is no weapon formed against prayer that can neutralize it. Some things can delay answers to prayer, but nothing can stop the full purpose of God. "Though it tarry, wait for it."
The first requirement in prayer is to believe. Believe that God is and that "he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Believe that God is alive and therefore has power not only for Peter's deliverance, but for ours. Believe that God is love and that He cares for His own. Believe that God is power and therefore no power can stand against Him. Believe that God is truth and therefore cannot lie. Believe that God is kind and that He will never abdicate His throne or fail in His promise.
Reflecting on the story of Peter, I am rebuked, humiliated, chagrined, stung. Why? Because there was some great modern saints, Watchman Nee for one, who for years have suffered and been held captive by communists and others. Many of the saints today are shut up in prison. The same fate has befallen some of God's choice witnesses in Vietnam and in the Congo.
Such perils to other members of the Body demand concern, concentration, and consecration to a committed plan of prayer on their behalf. I fear that prayer has not been made to God without ceasing for these suffering kinsmen.
Mr. Bunyan shows us his Christian held captive by the Giant Despair in Doubting Castle. The key to deliverance was Promise. We Christians are in captivity on many levels today personal, domestic, church, and missionary enterprise. But fetters break and dungeons fall when prayer is made by the church unto God - Prayer without ceasing; prayer that might shatter our status quo; prayer that drains us of every other interest; prayer that excites us by its immense possibilities; prayer that sees God as the One that rules on high, almighty to save; prayer that laughs at impossibilities and cries, "It shall be done"; prayer that sees all things beneath His feet; prayer that is motivated with desire for God's glory.
The praying of the believer can become a ritual. The place of prayer is more than a dumping ground for all our anxieties, frets, and fears. The place of prayer is not a place to drop a shopping list before the throne of a God with endless supplies and limitless power.
I believe the place of prayer is not only a place where I lose my burdens, but also a place where I get a burden. He shares my burden and I share His burden. "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." To know that burden, we must hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. To hear that voice, we must be still and know that He is God.
This calamitous hour in the affairs of men demands a church healthier than the one we have. This blatant manifestation of evil in the youth and in the violation of God's commandments throughout the world calls for a faith that will not shirk.
Can we let our prayer swords rust in the scabbards of doubt? Shall our prayer harps hang tuneless on the willows of unbelief? If God is a god of matchless power and incredible might, if the Bible is the unchangeable Word of the living God, if the virtue of Christ is as fresh today as when He first made the offering of Himself to God after His resurrection, if He is the one and only mediator today, If the Holy Spirit can quicken us as He did our spiritual fathers, Then all things are possible today.
The seas were boiling, the winds were howling, the sails were tearing, the spars were flying, the stars were hiding. The people were crying and crying, sobbing and sighing. One man alone was praising. All were expecting death save Paul. Amidst a scene of hopelessness, if ever thee was one, Paul cries, "Sirs, I believe God" (Acts 27).
As things seem to fall apart these days, I am going to join Paul. I am going to say in faith, "Sirs, I believe God." Will you join me?
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(The End)
Saturday, September 29, 2018
Branded For Christ
Branded For Christ
In a certain sense, all men are strangers to one another. Even friends do not really know each other. To know a man, one must know all the influence of heredity and environment, as well as his countries moral choices that have fashioned him into what he is.
Though we do not really know one another, tracing the course of a man's life sometimes offers rich reward, particularly when we see the great driving forces which have motivated him.
For instance, how greatly your life and mine would be benefited if we could experience the same surge of Christ-life that moved Saul of Tarsus (later called Paul) and plumb even a little the hidden depths of the meaning of his words, "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus" (Galatians 6:17).
One thing is sure about these words: they were an acknowledgment of Christ's ownership. Paul belonged to the Lord Jesus - spirit, soul, and body. He was branded for Christ.
When Paul claimed to bear in his body the wounds of the Lord, he was claiming no "stigmata," as did St Francis of Assisi in 1224 A.D. It is not a bodily identification by outward crucifixion. He had been "crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2:20).
Branded By Devotion to A Task
The marks of Paul's inward crucifixion were plainly evident. First of all, Paul was branded by devotion to the task.
If, as tradition says, Paul was only four feet six inches in height, then he was the greatest dwarf that ever lived. He out-paced, out-prayed, and out-passioned all his contemporaries. On his escutcheon was blazed: "One thing I do." He was blind to all that other men gloried in.
After the Athenian clash on Mars Hill, Paul poured contempt on the wisdom of the world, dying daily to the temptation to outwit and out-think the wise. His task was not that of getting a viewpoint, but of overcoming the legions of hell!
Somewhere, most likely in Arabia, Paul's personality had been transfigured. Never after that was he listed as a backslider. He was too occupied with going on. It would have vexed his righteous soul to hear a congregation sing, "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it!"
Unsponsored, unwelcomed, unloved - these made little difference to Paul. On he went, blind to every jewel of earthly honor, deaf to every siren-voice of ease, and insensitive to the mesmerism of worldly success.
Branded By Humility
Paul was also branded by humility. He never fished for praise, but in the long line of sinners, put himself first (where we would put him last.)
The old Welsh divine said that if you know Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, do not put them where Pilate did at the head of Christ, but put them at his feet. "What things were gain to me," says Paul, "these things I count loss for Christ."
What a hearts ease is the virtue of humility - the great joy of having nothing to lose!! Having no opinion of himself, Paul feared no fall. He was not adorned in the richly embroidered robes of the chancellor of a Hebrew school, but was adorned of a meek and quiet spirit which shines with more luster.
Branded By Suffering
Next, Paul was branded by suffering. Consider the thing he mentions in Romans 8: famine, peril, nakedness, and sword (these belonging to acute discomfort in the body), and tribulation, distress, persecution (of the spirit). Of all these sufferings the "little" minister partook.
Look closely at Paul - at that cadaverous countenance, that scarred body, that stooped figure of a man chasened by hunger, kept down by fasting, and ploughed with the lictors lash; that little body, brutally stoned at Lystra and starved in many places; that skin, prickled for thirty-six hours in the Mediterranean Sea! Add to this list danger upon danger; then multiply it with loneliness; finally, count in the 199 stripes, 3 shipwrecks, 3 beatings with rods, a stoning, and a prison record. And yet if one could add it up, all must be written off as nothing, because Paul himself thus consigned it. Listen to him: "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment..." That contempt of suffering, if you like!
Branded By Passion
Furthermore, Paul was branded by passion. A man must be in the dead center of God's will and walking a tightrope of obedience to call upon the Holy Spirit to bear witness to His witness. Yet Paul does this in Romans 9:1.
Oh, that from this wondrous flame every living preacher might capture just a little light! Beatings could not cast the flame out of Paul; fastings and hunger could not kill it; misunderstandings and misrepresentation could not quench its fire; waters could not drown it; prisons could not break it; perils could not arrest its growth. On and on it burned until life ebbed from his body.
The living Christ who was within Paul (Gal. 2:20), as manifested by his soul-passion, was at once the despair of hell, the capital for enlarging the Church, and cheer to the heart of the Saviour, who was seeing the travail of His soul and was being satisfied.
Branded by Love
Paul was branded by love. When Paul experienced becoming a "man in Christ," he developed the capacity for love. Only maturity knows love. How Paul loved!
First and supremely, Paul loved His Lord. Then he loved men, his enemies, hardship, and soul-pain. And he must have loved this latter particularly, else he would have shirked prayer. Paul's love carried him to the lost, the last, the least. What scope of love! Like a mighty dynamo, love pushed him on to attempt great things for God.
Not may have prayed as this man prayed. Maybe McCheyne, John Fletcher, mighty Brainerd, and a few others have known something of the soul-and-body mastering work of intercession motivated by love.
I remember standing by the Marechale once as we sang her great hymn:
"There is a love constraining me
To go and seek the lost;
I yield, O Lord, my all to Thee
To save at any cost!"
Charles Wesley seemed to reach on tiptoe when he said, "nothing on earth do I desire but Thy pure love within my breast!" More recently Amy Carmichael uttered the heartfelt prayer; "Give me a love that leads the way, a faith which nothing can dismay!" These men and women were certainly on the trail of the apostolic secret of soul-winning.
Great soul-winners have always been great lovers of men's souls. Great love to the Lover of their souls drove them to tears, to travail, and to triumph. In this evil hour, dare we love less?
Let me love Thee, love is mighty
Swaying realms of deed and thought;
By it I can walk uprightly,
I can serve Thee as I ought.
Love will soften every trial
Love will lighten every care;
Love unquestioning will follow,
Love will triumph, love will dare!
Without any of their choosing, millions will be branded for the Antichrist one day. Shall we shrink to bear in our spirits, our souls, and our bodies our Owners marks - the marks of Jesus? Branded means pain. Do we want that? Branded means carrying the slur of the servant. Will we choose to be branded - for Christ?
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(The End)
In a certain sense, all men are strangers to one another. Even friends do not really know each other. To know a man, one must know all the influence of heredity and environment, as well as his countries moral choices that have fashioned him into what he is.
Though we do not really know one another, tracing the course of a man's life sometimes offers rich reward, particularly when we see the great driving forces which have motivated him.
For instance, how greatly your life and mine would be benefited if we could experience the same surge of Christ-life that moved Saul of Tarsus (later called Paul) and plumb even a little the hidden depths of the meaning of his words, "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus" (Galatians 6:17).
One thing is sure about these words: they were an acknowledgment of Christ's ownership. Paul belonged to the Lord Jesus - spirit, soul, and body. He was branded for Christ.
When Paul claimed to bear in his body the wounds of the Lord, he was claiming no "stigmata," as did St Francis of Assisi in 1224 A.D. It is not a bodily identification by outward crucifixion. He had been "crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2:20).
Branded By Devotion to A Task
The marks of Paul's inward crucifixion were plainly evident. First of all, Paul was branded by devotion to the task.
If, as tradition says, Paul was only four feet six inches in height, then he was the greatest dwarf that ever lived. He out-paced, out-prayed, and out-passioned all his contemporaries. On his escutcheon was blazed: "One thing I do." He was blind to all that other men gloried in.
After the Athenian clash on Mars Hill, Paul poured contempt on the wisdom of the world, dying daily to the temptation to outwit and out-think the wise. His task was not that of getting a viewpoint, but of overcoming the legions of hell!
Somewhere, most likely in Arabia, Paul's personality had been transfigured. Never after that was he listed as a backslider. He was too occupied with going on. It would have vexed his righteous soul to hear a congregation sing, "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it!"
Unsponsored, unwelcomed, unloved - these made little difference to Paul. On he went, blind to every jewel of earthly honor, deaf to every siren-voice of ease, and insensitive to the mesmerism of worldly success.
Branded By Humility
Paul was also branded by humility. He never fished for praise, but in the long line of sinners, put himself first (where we would put him last.)
The old Welsh divine said that if you know Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, do not put them where Pilate did at the head of Christ, but put them at his feet. "What things were gain to me," says Paul, "these things I count loss for Christ."
What a hearts ease is the virtue of humility - the great joy of having nothing to lose!! Having no opinion of himself, Paul feared no fall. He was not adorned in the richly embroidered robes of the chancellor of a Hebrew school, but was adorned of a meek and quiet spirit which shines with more luster.
Branded By Suffering
Next, Paul was branded by suffering. Consider the thing he mentions in Romans 8: famine, peril, nakedness, and sword (these belonging to acute discomfort in the body), and tribulation, distress, persecution (of the spirit). Of all these sufferings the "little" minister partook.
Look closely at Paul - at that cadaverous countenance, that scarred body, that stooped figure of a man chasened by hunger, kept down by fasting, and ploughed with the lictors lash; that little body, brutally stoned at Lystra and starved in many places; that skin, prickled for thirty-six hours in the Mediterranean Sea! Add to this list danger upon danger; then multiply it with loneliness; finally, count in the 199 stripes, 3 shipwrecks, 3 beatings with rods, a stoning, and a prison record. And yet if one could add it up, all must be written off as nothing, because Paul himself thus consigned it. Listen to him: "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment..." That contempt of suffering, if you like!
Branded By Passion
Furthermore, Paul was branded by passion. A man must be in the dead center of God's will and walking a tightrope of obedience to call upon the Holy Spirit to bear witness to His witness. Yet Paul does this in Romans 9:1.
Oh, that from this wondrous flame every living preacher might capture just a little light! Beatings could not cast the flame out of Paul; fastings and hunger could not kill it; misunderstandings and misrepresentation could not quench its fire; waters could not drown it; prisons could not break it; perils could not arrest its growth. On and on it burned until life ebbed from his body.
The living Christ who was within Paul (Gal. 2:20), as manifested by his soul-passion, was at once the despair of hell, the capital for enlarging the Church, and cheer to the heart of the Saviour, who was seeing the travail of His soul and was being satisfied.
Branded by Love
Paul was branded by love. When Paul experienced becoming a "man in Christ," he developed the capacity for love. Only maturity knows love. How Paul loved!
First and supremely, Paul loved His Lord. Then he loved men, his enemies, hardship, and soul-pain. And he must have loved this latter particularly, else he would have shirked prayer. Paul's love carried him to the lost, the last, the least. What scope of love! Like a mighty dynamo, love pushed him on to attempt great things for God.
Not may have prayed as this man prayed. Maybe McCheyne, John Fletcher, mighty Brainerd, and a few others have known something of the soul-and-body mastering work of intercession motivated by love.
I remember standing by the Marechale once as we sang her great hymn:
"There is a love constraining me
To go and seek the lost;
I yield, O Lord, my all to Thee
To save at any cost!"
Charles Wesley seemed to reach on tiptoe when he said, "nothing on earth do I desire but Thy pure love within my breast!" More recently Amy Carmichael uttered the heartfelt prayer; "Give me a love that leads the way, a faith which nothing can dismay!" These men and women were certainly on the trail of the apostolic secret of soul-winning.
Great soul-winners have always been great lovers of men's souls. Great love to the Lover of their souls drove them to tears, to travail, and to triumph. In this evil hour, dare we love less?
Let me love Thee, love is mighty
Swaying realms of deed and thought;
By it I can walk uprightly,
I can serve Thee as I ought.
Love will soften every trial
Love will lighten every care;
Love unquestioning will follow,
Love will triumph, love will dare!
Without any of their choosing, millions will be branded for the Antichrist one day. Shall we shrink to bear in our spirits, our souls, and our bodies our Owners marks - the marks of Jesus? Branded means pain. Do we want that? Branded means carrying the slur of the servant. Will we choose to be branded - for Christ?
~Leonard Ravenhill~
(The End)
Saturday, September 22, 2018
Gems From Puritan Thomas Watson
Gems From Puritan Thomas Watson
Eternity to the godly - is a day that has no sunset. Eternity to the wicked - is a night that has no sunrise.
There is more evil in a drop of sin - than in a sea of affliction!
Knowledge without repentance - will be but a torch to light men to hell.
The pleasures of sin is soon gone - but the sting remains!
There are millions who would rather go sleeping to hell - than sweating to heaven!
Sin has the devil for its father, shame for its companion, and death for its wages.
A weak faith can lay hold on a strong Christ.
Christ is never sweet - until sin is felt to be bitter.
Our murmuring is the devil"s music.
First we practice sin, then defend it, then boast of it.
What if we have more of the rough file, if we have less rust! Afflictions carry away nothing but the dross of sin.
Christ sweetens outward pain - with inward peace.
Christ went more willingly to the Cross - than we do to the throne of grace.
When God calls a man, He does not repent of it. God does not, as many friends do: love one day - and hate another. This is the blessedness of a saint - his condition admits of no alteration. God's call is founded upon His decree - and His decree is immutable. Acts of grace cannot be reversed. God blots out His people's sins - but not their names.
It was wonderful love that Christ should rather die for us - than for the angels that fell.
Thus it is in hell - they would die - but they cannot. The wicked shall always be dying - but never dead; the smoke of the furnace ascends forever and ever. Oh! who can endure thus to be ever dying? This word "FOREVER" breaks the heart. Wicked men do now think the Sabbaths long, and think a prayer long - but oh! how long will it be to lie in hell forever and ever?
Prayer as it comes from the saint is weak and languid; but when the arrow of a saint's prayer is put into the bow of Christ's intercession - it pierces the throne of grace!
Prayer delights God's ear. It melts His heart - and opens His hand. God cannot deny a praying soul.
The torments of hell abide forever. If all the earth and sea were sand, and every thousandth year a little bird should come, and take away one grain of this sand - it would be a long time before that vast heap of sand were emptied. Yet, if after all that time the damned may come out of hell, there were some hope; but this word FOREVER breaks the heart!
Affliction may be lasting - but it is not everlasting. Affliction has a sting - but withal a wing - sorrow shall soon fly away.
A spiritual prayer is a humble prayer. Prayer is the asking of an alms, which requires humility. The lower the heart descends - the higher the prayer ascends.
It is absurd to think that anything in us could have the least influence upon our election. Some say that God foresaw that such persons would believe, and therefore chose them; so they would make the business of salvation to depend upon something in us. Whereas God does not choose us for faith - but to faith. "He has chosen us, that we should be holy" (Eph.1:4), not because we would be holy - but that we might be holy. We are elected to holiness, not for it.
Knowledge is the eye which must direct the foot of obedience.
Make up your spiritual accounts daily; see how matters stand between God and your souls (Psalm 77:6). Frequent reckonings keep God and conscience friends. Do with your hearts as you do with your watches - wind them up every morning by prayer, and at night examine whether your hearts have gone true all that day, whether the wheels of your affections have moved swiftly toward heaven.
God will not be behind-hand in love to us. For our drop - we shall receive an ocean!
The right manner of spiritual growth, is to grow less in one's own eyes!
Praising God is one of the highest and purest acts of religion. In prayer we act like men - but in praise we act like angels.
How many souls have been blown into hell with the wind of popular applause?
Let us then ascribe the whole work of grace to the pleasure of God's will. God did not choose us because we were worthy - but by choosing us, He makes us worthy.
Those prayers God likes best, which come seething hot from the heart!
Prayer is the offering up of our desires to God in the name of Christ, for such things as are agreeable to His will. It is an offering of our desires. Desires are the soul and life of prayer - words are but the body. Now as the body without the soul is dead - so are prayers unless they are animated with our desires.
The angel fetched Peter out of prison - but it was prayer that fetched the angel.
Prayer is the soul's breathing itself into the bosom of its heavenly Father.
The prayer that is faithless, is fruitless.
The more we enjoy of God - the more we are ravished with delight.
A man's greatest care should be for that place where he lives longest - therefore eternity should be his scope.
God's decree is the very pillar and basis on which the saint's perseverance depends. That decree ties the knot of adoption so fast, that neither sin, death, nor hell, can break it asunder.
~Thomas Watson~
Eternity to the godly - is a day that has no sunset. Eternity to the wicked - is a night that has no sunrise.
There is more evil in a drop of sin - than in a sea of affliction!
Knowledge without repentance - will be but a torch to light men to hell.
The pleasures of sin is soon gone - but the sting remains!
There are millions who would rather go sleeping to hell - than sweating to heaven!
Sin has the devil for its father, shame for its companion, and death for its wages.
A weak faith can lay hold on a strong Christ.
Christ is never sweet - until sin is felt to be bitter.
Our murmuring is the devil"s music.
First we practice sin, then defend it, then boast of it.
What if we have more of the rough file, if we have less rust! Afflictions carry away nothing but the dross of sin.
Christ sweetens outward pain - with inward peace.
Christ went more willingly to the Cross - than we do to the throne of grace.
When God calls a man, He does not repent of it. God does not, as many friends do: love one day - and hate another. This is the blessedness of a saint - his condition admits of no alteration. God's call is founded upon His decree - and His decree is immutable. Acts of grace cannot be reversed. God blots out His people's sins - but not their names.
It was wonderful love that Christ should rather die for us - than for the angels that fell.
Thus it is in hell - they would die - but they cannot. The wicked shall always be dying - but never dead; the smoke of the furnace ascends forever and ever. Oh! who can endure thus to be ever dying? This word "FOREVER" breaks the heart. Wicked men do now think the Sabbaths long, and think a prayer long - but oh! how long will it be to lie in hell forever and ever?
Prayer as it comes from the saint is weak and languid; but when the arrow of a saint's prayer is put into the bow of Christ's intercession - it pierces the throne of grace!
Prayer delights God's ear. It melts His heart - and opens His hand. God cannot deny a praying soul.
The torments of hell abide forever. If all the earth and sea were sand, and every thousandth year a little bird should come, and take away one grain of this sand - it would be a long time before that vast heap of sand were emptied. Yet, if after all that time the damned may come out of hell, there were some hope; but this word FOREVER breaks the heart!
Affliction may be lasting - but it is not everlasting. Affliction has a sting - but withal a wing - sorrow shall soon fly away.
A spiritual prayer is a humble prayer. Prayer is the asking of an alms, which requires humility. The lower the heart descends - the higher the prayer ascends.
It is absurd to think that anything in us could have the least influence upon our election. Some say that God foresaw that such persons would believe, and therefore chose them; so they would make the business of salvation to depend upon something in us. Whereas God does not choose us for faith - but to faith. "He has chosen us, that we should be holy" (Eph.1:4), not because we would be holy - but that we might be holy. We are elected to holiness, not for it.
Knowledge is the eye which must direct the foot of obedience.
Make up your spiritual accounts daily; see how matters stand between God and your souls (Psalm 77:6). Frequent reckonings keep God and conscience friends. Do with your hearts as you do with your watches - wind them up every morning by prayer, and at night examine whether your hearts have gone true all that day, whether the wheels of your affections have moved swiftly toward heaven.
God will not be behind-hand in love to us. For our drop - we shall receive an ocean!
The right manner of spiritual growth, is to grow less in one's own eyes!
Praising God is one of the highest and purest acts of religion. In prayer we act like men - but in praise we act like angels.
How many souls have been blown into hell with the wind of popular applause?
Let us then ascribe the whole work of grace to the pleasure of God's will. God did not choose us because we were worthy - but by choosing us, He makes us worthy.
Those prayers God likes best, which come seething hot from the heart!
Prayer is the offering up of our desires to God in the name of Christ, for such things as are agreeable to His will. It is an offering of our desires. Desires are the soul and life of prayer - words are but the body. Now as the body without the soul is dead - so are prayers unless they are animated with our desires.
The angel fetched Peter out of prison - but it was prayer that fetched the angel.
Prayer is the soul's breathing itself into the bosom of its heavenly Father.
The prayer that is faithless, is fruitless.
The more we enjoy of God - the more we are ravished with delight.
A man's greatest care should be for that place where he lives longest - therefore eternity should be his scope.
God's decree is the very pillar and basis on which the saint's perseverance depends. That decree ties the knot of adoption so fast, that neither sin, death, nor hell, can break it asunder.
~Thomas Watson~
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